—Lancaster Farming. Saturday. Dec. 21,1974
34
Mrs, Cloyd Wenger
Her Crafts Serve as Holiday Trimmings
jt-
Christmas will be bright and cheerful at the home of the
Cloyd Wenger family, 1804 Pioneer Road, Lancaster,
because Mrs. Wenger loves to dp crafts and decorate their
house. She is very fond of antiques and uses them to ad
vantage in her decorations. She also loves to cook.
This year their family room is decorated in gold with
their stone fireplace the focal point. A swagging greenery
rope adorns the stone mantel and is accentuated with gold
satin Christmas balls. Above it is a small gold decorated
tree arrangement. Beside the fireplace is a small
Christmas tree decorated with a variety of gold or
naments. An anitque brass bed warmer decorates file
other side of the fireplace.
One of Mrs. Wenger’s hobbies is collecting and
refinishing old slaw cutters. Her husband affixes candle
holders on them and she then makes candle arrangements
on them. She has a half dozen of these arrangements in
various sizes throughout their house which are most at
tractive. She has also sold a dozen or more of them.
Most little girls are dreaming of getting a new doll for
Christmas. Mrs. Wenger too has never outgrown her
love for dolls as can be seen in their living room. Of
special interest is a table lamp, the base if which is made
of a large glass bottle in which her mother-in-law’s old doll
is placed. She also has several other dolls and cradles in
their living room or parlor. One is a small doll with a kid
body and a china head that she bought from a neighbor.
Although it is about 90 years old it has the original dress on
it. Another one is a boudoir doll which she dressed many
years ago. Still another one she made with a detergent
bottle as a base and bought a head for it, then made
clothes for it. Then of interest to any girl from 9 to 99 is an
anitque Nippon china six place setting tea set, a three
piece setting of silver ware for each and a pair of glass
candle sticks complete with candles and candle rings.
Their living room is a combination of the comfort of today
and the quality and beauty of the past. A very lovely
toilet set also lends interest from the past.
Shelves built into Wengers’ kitchen beautifully display
46 pieces of turquoise agate ware. An agate colander
makes a lovely container to hold fruit on the counter top
between the kitchen and the family room. One of the most
Naomi Wenger made and dressed the doll she is
holding, also dressed the boudoir doll on the table and
displays a 90 year old doll with china head and kid
body which she bought from a neighbor. Note the
antique doll which was her mother-in-law’s. It'is
encased in the glass jar base of her electric table
lamp. Her antique china tea set, silver ware and glass
candlesticks are the center of attraction as are some
toilet sets in the background.
by
Mrs.
Charles
McSparran
Farm Feature
Writer
unusual arrangements is an antique ceramic bed pan with
a large candle and candle ring arrangement in the center
that also adorns this counter top. A small desk is in
corporated into this section of built-in shelves on which a
table lamp made from an old desk telephone is placed.
The kitchen also has a long plate rack full of antique soup
dishes which Wengers have collected.
Mrs. Wenger loves to teach crafts, in fact she says her
ambition is to get a job teaching crafts at a retirement
home. She teaches crafts to a group from her church and a
few other community women once a month. She buys the
materials. It costs the ladies about one dollar per month.
Extra profit goes to the United Methodist Women’s group.
This month she showed them how to make poinsettias
from chenille bumps, starting with half of a small
styrofoam ball as a center and cutting out leaves from
green felt. They have small magnets attached to the back
of them so they can decorate the front of the refrigerator.
Last month they made pumpkins from orange colored
chenille bumps and corn husk dolls. Mrs. Wenger has also
made a very attractive owl from them.
Last spring she taught them how to make rabbits from
two quart plastic bleach bottles, felt, cotton, ribbons,
straw etc. and dressed them. They sold over one hundred
dollars woth of them and turned the money into their
church group’s treasury. She also taught a craft class
where she works to make them. Mrs. Wenger made
herself a large one from a one and a half gallon bleach
bottle and a smaller one using a detergent bottle for a
Mrs. Cloyd Wenger made the pink poinsettia, she is
holding, of chenille bumps. Her family room,
decorated in fold, is most attractive. Notice the brass
bed warmer hanging by the fireplace.
base, then dressing it. She also made a small bunny with a
cardboard roll and a styrofoam ball as a base. The body of
it was covered 'with plastic straw.
Mrs. (Naomi) Wenger has tried her hand at many and
varied arts and crafts as can be seen in her home. She took
a six month course in ceramics and made some lovely
pieces. She knits, crochets, embroiders and sews. She was
in 4-H sewing four year§, v She used to make all kinds of
clothing for her chiildren, including coats and leggings.
She made nearly all the draperies for her bouse. She did a
beautiful crewel picture and took first prize on it at the
West Lampeter Community Fair a couple years ago. She
made draped angels, cocalico flowers, organdy rose buds
and felt Santa’s boots. She likes to grow flowers. She
grows petunias, geraniums and a lot of iris. She used to
dry her own flowers such as zinnias and Passion flower,
and took first prize on her dried Passion flower at West
Lampeter fair. She likes to make arrangements.
The winter will find her making a corn husk wreath and
a decoupage handbag among other things. She is doing a
crewel pillow top now.
Naomi, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Hess, Leola
RDI, grew up on her parents farm near Elizabethtown.
Her parents afterward lived at Pottstown for a number of
years. Naomi graduatee from Lancaster Mennonite High
School then worked in the home of Mr. and Mrs. John
Hager, Lancaster.
Cloyd is a son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Frank Wenger
who lived more recently on their farm on Rock Vale Rd.
Mrs. Wenger holds an old slaw cutter which she
transformed into a candle holder arrangement. In
foreground she used an antique ceramic bedpan for a
candle arrangement. Her 46 pieces of turquoise agate
ware are displayed in her kitchen, the colander makes
a nice fruit container. Notice the table desk lamp
made from an old telephone. One of her cornhusk
dolls is on the right-hand shelf.
Frank was a farmer all his life and owned the farm which
Cloyd and Naomi now own. Cloyd fanned it for 20 years
and they lived in the farmhouse. Eight years ago Mr. and
Mrs. Cloyd Wenger built another house on the farm,
where they now live, and a brother, Lester, has farmed
the ground since. Cloyd is a poultry inspector at Empire
Kosher Poultry Inc., Bird-in-Hand and is also an auc
tioneer. He had a garden the past summer on the new
sewer row and grew lots of lima and string beans, neck
pumpkins and tomatoes. Wengers have an antique shop,
Pioneer Antique Shop, at their home. Besides being a
business open only in the summer, it is a hobby. They
handle dishes, tinware, baskets, depression glass and
some furniture. They sell some blue and gray agate ware.
Wengers have four children: All graduated from
Lampeter-Strasburg High School. Ronald took the Ag
course and was on the wrestling team. He was a Sergeant
Tank Commander in the United States Army and served
in Viet Nam. He is married, has two sons and lives on a 12
acre farm at Lampeter which he farms. He has a garden
large enough to supply his family and his parent’s family
at home. He grows a lot of Kennebec and Cobler potatoes
and sells a few of them. They keep a pony there. Ronald is
a red meat inspector at local butcher shops and does some
auctioneering.
Sandra was in Future Homemakers and took a com
mercial course. She worked as an IBM operator at
Educators Life Insurance Company before marriage. She
married Roy Kreider and has two daughters. They live at
Kinzer RDI, near Gap. They are active in Calvary
Monument Church youth group. Roy works for a building
contractor and has a auto body shop. Sandy is a good
seamstress. She makes nearly all of her own and her
children’s clothes and sews for other people.
Suzanne (Sue) took commercial and academic courses
in high school and was in Future Homemakers. She is
attending Harcum Junior College at Bryn Mawr, Pa. and
is taking a course in Animal Technology. She has a riding
horse in the bam at home. She aspires to be a
veterinarian. The Wengers have two Airedale dogs, three
Siamese cats and several bam cats.
Frank is 14 and attends the Lampeter-Strasburg
District Martin Mylin Junior High School. He takes care
of Sue’s horse and has around 100 rabbits.
Mrs. Wenger has been a member of Farm Women
Society 22 about 20 years. She has been on their scrapbook
committee this year but will be news reporter starting
January 1. She has demonstrated crafts to the society and
made things for their bazaars. She i&owed them how to
make calico flowers and organdy rosebuds, using a
brandy snifter as a base. The last 4000 copies of their
“Dinner Bell” cookbook have been assembled in her (
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